Music Box
by kuristina
Summary: Stuck in a seemingly nonexistent relationship with Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto goes through a usual day of questioning what he has with his "lover". Yet small things such as a music box that no longer uplifted him, papers on his vanity, and a lack of appetite for ramen change his day ever so slightly...


**A/N:** Random idea

**DISCLAIMER:** my OTP, created by Kishimoto

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Naruto woke up when he felt the bed shift and the body by his side leave the bed but his blue eyes didn't open. Instead they remained shut while he continued to look as if he was still sleeping. He always woke up when Sasuke got up to get ready for work these days. Back then, he wouldn't even feel Sasuke leave the bed when he woke up in the morning for work.

Back then, Sasuke would always affectionately touch him a little when he woke in the mornings. When he was still sleeping, he wouldn't wake up from them but he could feet the soft touches.

But it was different now.

Sasuke probably didn't even look at him when he woke up. All that was on The Uchiha's mind was to get ready, eat breakfast, and leave for work.

The shower started in the bathroom. The water stopped after fifteen minutes passed to Naruto's calculated knowledge. Next he would step out and go to the closet. Sasuke would just pick out his pants to wear and leave the room to go cook his breakfast, which would take about ten minutes. He would later return back to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Then he would go back to his closet and put on a complete suit and leave. No goodbye kiss or anything.

That was Sasuke's morning schedule.

It was never more or less time spent doing his routine. It happened exactly the way it was described. The timing was always perfect each and every day for the past half year.

And Naruto had kept track of it for some reason.

Even with Sasuke's absence from the house for thirty minutes, Naruto didn't budge. There wasn't really a reason to get up so early in the morning. But he knew he had to get up and do something.

Gingerly he slipped out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto liked his showers at night. So all he did was just go into the bathroom to brush the bad breath out of his mouth and comb down his hair if he had a tangle.

He shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen. His stomach was rumbling and he needed breakfast to settle himself. He scrambled eggs for himself and downed it in two minutes. He left the pan and the plate in the sink; it would give him something to do later. Then he went towards the cabinet to take his vitamins.

He hated taking the capsules every morning but it was something that Sasuke had gotten him to start when the first moved in together. Yeah it was good for his body but they tasted slightly bitter… almost nothing actually.

Kind of like his relationship with Sasuke at the moment.

He never smiled with Sasuke these days and Sasuke didn't even glance at him. They didn't even have small talk anymore.

They weren't what they used to be.

They weren't in love.

They were… he didn't even know.

Mindlessly he walked up the stairs back into the bedroom. He stared at the bed briefly before looking away. He decided he would mix things up a bit. He wouldn't make the bed right away today.

Usually after breakfast he would make the bed but not today.

Naruto glanced over at the white vanity behind him. It was a gift from Sasuke's mom, Mikoto. It was something he was reluctant to accept because he didn't know what to do with a vanity. But it added a nice touch to the room.

He sat down on the seat in front of the vanity and glanced up at his reflection. He didn't look happy. He tried to force himself to put on a fake smile but it didn't even last two seconds. He used to be able to pull it off flawlessly whenever he was upset over something. But he couldn't do it now.

Now all he ever looked was sad.

His blue eyes glanced down at the small oak box in front of him. It was his own little personal box that he put his most cherished things in. His creamy tan hands slowly lifted the lid from the box. He let the top be held by the hinges as he looked down at the contents of the box.

The first thing his eyes caught onto was the necklace his godmother had given him when he was twelve. He used to wear it every day back then but he felt it was safer inside the box, even though his godmother had told him that the necklace was ridiculously expensive and should be worn on his body. Then there were two small photographs; one of his parents, smiling at the camera, before they died in a car accident and the other was of him and Sasuke.

Sasuke was hugging him from behind in the picture but kept his eyes drawn away from the camera versus Naruto who grinned at the lens and flashed a victory sign.

Blue eyes glared and he felt jealously towards the photo. It had captured him back then when they were happy and he envied the Naruto in the photo.

The next item made him bite his bottom lip. It was a small velvet box. He put it in the palm of his hand and opened it. It was his engagement ring from about thirteen months ago.

Sasuke had proposed to him in the privacy of a room inside their favorite restaurant. Of course Naruto said yes and accepted the ring on his finger. He was ecstatic to tell everyone he was engaged to Sasuke and was even more excited to plan the wedding.

They both agreed to not rush any of the wedding plans. They would take their time to plan all the details out that way their wedding would be perfect.

But when Sasuke started being passive, there was suddenly no talk about the wedding or them. There was the ring, inside the box instead of on his finger. The day he put the ring back in its box, he silently cried. It was such an embarrassment when he had to call family and friends to tell them that the wedding would not be happening on the day the invitations said it would.

What was even more embarrassing was when people noticed right away that he wasn't wearing his engagement ring. They asked why the wedding wasn't happening anymore and he didn't even know how to answer them. He doesn't even remember if he gave the people an answer.

The thing that really stung him though was that he didn't even know what to call Sasuke afterwards. His ex-fiancé? His boyfriend? Lover?

What were they?

Were they going to be okay?

What was their future together?

Would they even have a future?

Naruto didn't know.

They were just two strangers living in the same house.

He set the box down gently and looked at the last item. It was a small crank music box. He had ordered it several months ago off the internet. The small device was still in its box but the crank stuck out so that you could still turn it.

With his index finger and thumb, Naruto carefully turned the crank to hear the small music box play his and Sasuke's song, La Vie en Rose.

The way he and Sasuke met was when they had gone to the local theatre in their town for a film festival. The theatre was showing a number of different films from American, Italian, French, and even unknown Japanese movies.

He remembered the film he was watching was a French film. It was strange but he had to admit that it was worth watching. Once the credits started rolling, everyone stood to leave the room. But Naruto decided to stay and wait for the crowd around the door to disperse.

The song La Vie en Rose was still playing when he decided to finally get up. He pulled out his cellphone to check any messages he may have ignored during the movie. His eyes focused only on the screen, he didn't notice when he bumped into someone in front of him.

It shocked Naruto and he dropped his phone. The person in front of him bent down to grab the phone and put it back in his hand. Before Naruto could say thank you and apologize, the stranger had grunted at him and said, "Usuratonkachi."

He stood there for a few seconds, the song still playing in the background.

Naruto being who he is had to hunt down the guy and tell him that he was a rude asshole and to apologize to him.

Naruto smiled at the memory. He didn't notice how handsome Sasuke was at first because he was more focused on tracking the bastard down. But after finally the Uchiha "apologized", he finally took notice of the mysterious beauty before him and was suddenly embarrassed.

He wondered now if meeting Sasuke just a mistake. He wondered if they were ever meant to be together in the first place.

Usually the music box was a comfort to him. The brief chorus the box made gave him a small hope of him and Sasuke repairing their relationship. Though today, it didn't seem to lift his spirits. In fact, it made him a little sad just playing the small thing. That worried him.

The music box was his symbol of hope that things would turn out okay.

Now it didn't seem to have a positive effect on him.

Shaking his blonde hair, he decided that he didn't want to get even more depressed today. He carefully put the music box back inside and shut the lid of his box.

By accident, his elbow had brushed against some papers that were on the vanity.

Naruto looked at the papers in confusion; he didn't remember putting them there. He picked up the thin stack of papers and skimmed the contents of it. Immediately he knew it was Sasuke's paperwork. He figured that he must have left it there and forgotten to take them with him to work.

It was strange because Sasuke hardly forgot about taking important papers to work.

He felt the slightest urge to take the papers to Sasuke's work but fought against it. He probably wouldn't be able to find his way around Sasuke's workplace anyway.

The bastard would just have to come home and get them himself.

Standing up from the vanity, he decided that it was time to make the bed now.

In almost no time at all, the bed was perfectly made. There were no creases on the bedding and the pillows looked fluffy, as if no one had ever laid their head on it before. The bed looked… uninviting. At least that's the way Naruto viewed it.

Naruto went to the dresser to change out of his pajamas into a plain shirt and jeans. He looked at the dark shirt he was wearing and realized that it was Sasuke's, since it was too big on his form. Instead of changing shirts, he kept it on and tucked it into his pants.

He traveled downstairs and stood at the foot of the stairs. This house was just too big for just him and Sasuke. Well, more like just him. Sasuke was gone from seven in the morning to eight at night or later.

He didn't have anywhere to go today. He didn't really have a job since Sasuke provided well enough for the both of them.

Naruto volunteered at the orphanage a lot but he went less and less ever since the distance between him and Sasuke started to widen. It would make sense that since Sasuke was always absent he would be out volunteering to fill in the space.

But he sat at home and moped instead.

Down the stairs he went and he went to the living room. There was speaker that had his iPod connected to it. Taking the device in his hand, he scrolled through the list of songs he had to play. He was unsure of what he wanted to listen to.

So he shut his eyes and let his thumb just randomly tap a song.

His heart sunk a little when the song he tapped happened to be La Vie en Rose.

But Naruto couldn't find himself to change the song so he put it on repeat and let it play.

He worked around the house. He did the dishes he left from breakfast, laundry, vacuuming, polishing the furniture, and cleaning the bathrooms.

It was all done in just three hours and he going as slow as he could.

Naruto went to the speaker and stopped the song from playing anymore. Then he seated himself on the couch. What was there to do now?

The answer came when his stomach rumbled.

Getting off the couch, he went back to the kitchen to make his favorite food of all time, ramen. Yet even after three Styrofoam cups he didn't feel sated. He ate but he didn't feel full. Naruto had no idea what was wrong with him today.

Maybe something healthy would fill him instead.

Looking back into the fridge, full lips pulled into a frown when he saw that the fridge was running low on vegetables and had to grab some juice. He supposed that he would have to go out now to the store and stock up the fridge again.

Briefly he looked outside the window to check the weather. Naruto frowned again when he saw how dark the clouds were. Great, it looked like it was going to rain pretty hard today. But he figured that he'll just make a quick trip to the market, get what he needs, and get back home.

Naruto grabbed his car keys, got a warm jacket from the closet, grabbed an umbrella, and went to the garage.

The ride to the market was silent. He didn't bother to put on the radio. It wouldn't fill the space anyway that he felt. Nothing could make him feel better. And the rain that started to patter on the windshield didn't really help.

He remembered whenever Sasuke had a day off on a rainy day they would spend it inside just being together. Sasuke's work didn't even cross his mind when they were cuddling or kissing. The focus of the day would just be the two of them.

Those days were gone now.

In no time at all Naruto pulled up to the local grocery store. Unfortunately he couldn't find a parking space near the opening. He parked all the way at the back of the parking lot. He sighed to himself as he grabbed his umbrella from the back and opened it when he opened his car door.

He locked his car door and walked towards the store. His feet were cold but at least his rain boots were keeping them getting wet. His teeth chattered and pushed his free hand into his pocket, sinking his chin into his jacket to keep his face a little warm.

When he reached the sliding doors, he said a quiet thank you.

Naruto grabbed a basket nearby and went towards the back of the store. He wouldn't be getting much today anyway.

Quickly he had grabbed what he needed and went towards one of the checkout aisles. There seemed to be a big number of people today and a small number of checkout aisles open. So of course he had to wait a while before he would get his turn.

And waiting meant being alone with his thoughts. He wasn't really going to attempt talking to any of the strangers around him to pass the time.

He tried to focus on other things besides his nonexistent relationship with Sasuke. He tried to focus on what kind of book Jiraiya was writing at the moment, what was under Kakashi's mask, or why Sai never flashed a real smile before.

The topics were the trick for making time pass by faster. He paid the cashier, thanked him, and went on his way out of the store.

Outside back in the rainy weather, he struggled to open his umbrella with his other hand occupied carrying two plastic bags. With success the umbrella opened and he stepped under the heavy rain. He kept the umbrella low and his eyes cast down at the ground.

Unfortunately he didn't see the car speeding by in the parking lot and was splashed. In shock he dropped his umbrella and gaped at the passing by car. Once the quick shock was done, his blue eyes glared at the car and he screamed, "Fuck you!"

He got a honk in return.

Naruto let out a frustrated cry and kicked the wet ground. Now his pants were wet, his hair was wet, and he might get sick. People stared at him but he ignored their looks. He picked up his umbrella and closed it. He didn't even bother putting it over his head. At least his jacket was keeping his shirt dry.

He was just glad to be inside his car. He put on the heater and drove out of the parking lot and into traffic. All he wanted to do now was just go home and crawl into bed.

Today was a bad day for him.

Why did he even bother getting up today?

Parking inside the garage, he shut off the car and grabbed the bags from the back seat. Removing his rain boots in the garage, Naruto also shed off his jacket and wet pants leaving him just in Sasuke's shirt and boxers.

With the wet pants off his slim legs, they shivered from the air.

On the top of the dryer was towel. He grabbed it and wiped down his legs and hair. He needed a warm bath and then he could just sleep the rest of the depressing day away.

He entered the living room area but stopped when he heard a soft tinkling sound. He looked all around to see if it was nearby but then he realized that it was coming upstairs. He realized that it was his music box playing.

Dropping the towel onto the kitchen table, Naruto slowly and quietly made his way up the stairs. He wondered who was messing around with his music box.

Just outside the master bedroom, he pressed himself against the wall next to the doorway and listened quietly for the person in the room. The person who was cranking the music box was humming along with the short tune.

It was a deep voice. It hummed along with the music box but the voice was too deep to keep in tune with the song.

The song would end but the person would continue to play the song on the small device.

Slowly Naruto tiptoed to the opening of the doorway. His eyes widened in surprise to see who was sitting at the vanity.

Sasuke was there, playing the small music box from his box.

It was quite a surprise. Sasuke hardly ever came home in the middle of the day. Unless... yes, he was correct. Naruto's eyes had caught on to the documents that were left on the vanity. But normally Sasuke would just take the papers and go.

Yet there he was.

Dark bangs were shielding the stronger man's vision from seeing Naruto standing on the side. He was oblivious to the presence in the room.

Naruto felt his breath almost leave him. It really was a shock to see Sasuke there. It almost felt like he hadn't seen him in such a long time. It was a silly thought because they were just in bed together this morning.

But still…

He leaned against the doorway, just watching Sasuke. He wasn't really waiting for the Uchiha to notice him. He was content just watching. He was fine with watching the older man before him play the music box which played their song. He was fine with that.

But eventually the hand that was turning the small crank finally stopped and so did the deep humming.

Naruto didn't seem to notice. Not until he looked up and blue eyes met with dark orbs.

His lips pursed and his hands automatically locked together, his own little sign of being nervous.

Time passed slowly but neither of them said anything, they just held their gazes. After all, it had been such a long time since they looked each other in the eye. They just couldn't seem to look away. They were both captivated.

And Naruto had to wonder. Here they were, in the same room and there might actually be some sort of interaction between them. What would happen next?

Sasuke's hands put down the music box and he reached for something at his side. Blue eyes widened in surprise when he saw a velvet box in his hand. He looked to the box briefly to see if… yes, it was the same box that Sasuke was holding.

He almost smiled but then bit it back. What would Sasuke do with it?

Looking back at Sasuke's face, he let his smile go eat to ear when he saw the Uchiha's own gentle smile. He shut his eyes when he heard the other man get up from the vanity and stand in front of him. A hand bigger than his own took it in a gentle hold and laced their fingers together.

Cracking one blue eye open, he suddenly remembered how good their hands looked together when they were interlocked. He remembered how good they were together.

Suddenly he found himself overwhelmed with emotions and leaned against the hard body. Tears sprung in his eyes but he wouldn't let them fall. He bit his lip to keep from whimpering or crying out anything. He only felt pure happiness when Sasuke put an arm around him and pulled him close.

Naruto looked back up at Sasuke and they just stared at each other again.

Yeah, Naruto thinks that things will be okay again.

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**A/N:** Good? Bad? Review me.


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